Student grants and loans in

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

are administered by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education (''Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation og Videregående Uddannelser''). These universal

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

are called ''Statens Uddannelsesstøtte'' (SU: State Educational Support Grants). There are two kinds. There are grants for students attending secondary and tertiary school.

Secondary school grants

All students above age 18 are entitled to a free grant regulated partly by the income of their parents if they are below age 20. The basic rate for students living on their own and older than 20 is 6,820 DKK (as of 2024) a month.

University grants

When a student starts at a

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

or another kind of

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

institution, they are entitled to SU for a maximum of 72 months. As most university education (with the exception of

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

) takes five years in

, it allows the student to take one year more on their studies than stipulated, or to change their

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

during their first year without economic consequences.

Disability grants

Any higher education student professionally diagnosed with a permanent disability, such as muscular dystrophy, blindness, deafness or autism, can apply for an additional grant of 8,051 DKK (about US$1,364) a month.

Student loans

If needed, the student may supplement the grant with a student loan of 2,897 DKK (about US$491) that has to be repaid when the student has completed his or her education. Thus a student will normally receive about 67,944 DKK (about US$11,514) a year in grants with an optional 34,764 DKK (about US$5,891) in loans, making a total of 102,708 DKK (about US$17,405). The government granted SU loans have to be repaid once a student has graduated.

Tuition

All education in

ranging from

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, the Danish equivalent of high school gymnasiums as well as

Universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

and all other officially recognised forms of

are completely free of charge.

Post-tertiary education

Students at doctoral level ( Ph.D. or similar) are not really considered students, and thus they do not receive a student grant. However, most Ph.D. candidates are employed by universities as researchers, and thus receive a fixed salary.

References

Education in Denmark

{{Denmark-stub